World Mental Health Day: Steve has designs on a new future

Published on 10, October, 2025

As we mark World Mental Health Day, one University of Sunderland student has shown that it is possible to survive and thrive while living with mental health challenges.

Steve Ross, from Sunderland, was first diagnosed as bipolar around three years ago. He struggled with depression, which led to self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

He had worked as a store manager for 13 years but had to stop working due to his mental health issues.

Steve explained: “I was undergoing CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) for those issues and during the treatment I started to talk about before the periods of depression was episodes of feeling like I could do anything. Feelings of grandeur, taking risks without fear of consequence, increased excitement of things I wanted or thought I could do.

“After these episodes came the crashing realisation that I couldn’t do these things and then came the depression. I did eventually receive the treatment I needed but I had to fight for it.”

Now, the 51-year-old is studying a Graphic Design degree at the University, and has just been awarded the Futures Fund Experience Award. The award provides up to £3,000 for internships and extracurricular activities that give current Sunderland students access to opportunities that might feel out of reach.

Steve successfully applied for the Experience Award and plans to use the money to run print workshops for hobbyists, artists and designers. For Steve, his course and his award is a new start after a difficult period in his life following a breakdown.

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Today (10 October) is World Mental Health Day, and the theme this year is Access to Services – Mental Health in Catastrophes and Emergencies. The theme highlights the crucial importance of ensuring mental health support is available for people, particularly during crises and emergencies, and for those who deliver this vital work.

The University offers support to students and staff who may be facing mental health challenges through their Wellbeing and Disability Support teams.

Steve said: “Now I feel a lot more stable, but I do take a lot of medication. I can recognise the triggers now and feel I can control them.

“Within the University I have received help from the Disabled Students Allowance which gives me an hour a week support with a counsellor. And my lecturers have been brilliant. I wouldn’t be where I am without their support.

“To anyone that has been diagnosed, the things that have helped me is to try and recognise your triggers early so you can find a way to distract yourself until they have passed, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Being diagnosed has helped me because I feel in control of my life and I am moving on.

“I was over the moon when I found out I had won the Futures Fund Experience Award. I have never felt that anything I have done was good enough, so to have my work recognised was amazing.

“The Futures Fund has given me the confidence to believe in the work I do.”

To find out more about the scholarships and bursaries available, click here. 

For more information on the support available to students at the University of Sunderland, click here. 

For the University’s Graphic Design degree, click here.